


Realization

by Fnorpan



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Interspecies Sex, Other, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-02
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-05-14 02:46:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5726842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fnorpan/pseuds/Fnorpan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How does one cope with resurrection and enhancements when your love interest seem oblivious? Shakarian short story. Timeline ME2. </p><p>Interspecies smut and some violence. You've been warned!</p><p>Drop a comment if you enjoy this. Keeps me on my toes ;)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Older story, one of my first. Migrated here. All credit for the universe, storyline content and such belong to Bioware, I'm only playing around in their sandbox.

* * *

 

_“You utterly infuriating, ludicrous, thickheaded woman! May the spirits curse you were ever born!”_ Garrus fumed while putting bullets through everything that moved. He was going to kill her if it was the last thing he did!

~.o.O.o.~

 

Kasumi had giggled when Garrus tensed up and let slip a subvocal growl, the turian equivalent of muttering or cursing under once breath, when Shepard charged into battle and disappeared around the nearest corner. The thief then proceeded to sparklingly evaporate into thin air, as was her custom, only to reappear in a rain of blood as she slit some poor schmucks’ throat. The mere thought of that annoying thief having fun at his expense made Garrus mood worsen significantly. Especially when he had every right to be angry in the first place. Spirits he just got Shepard back! And now she seemingly made it her mission to disappear on him… Again!

_“Must she charge out of sight at everything from husks to atlases?!”_ he thought _“Must she give me an aneurysm every damned battle!!”_ He lined up a headshot and watched through his scope as the head of the merc exploded in a brilliant cascade of red mist.

Since coming back to the land of the living Shepard had taken to the bad habit of never pausing to see if her team kept up with her. No, she just charged on ahead and left her team scrambling to pick up the slack, weather they were able to or not.  
Sure Shepard was a brilliant vanguard and thrived in close-quarter-combat but she was just as deadly in long-range battles and didn’t have to hand-to-hand it with every enemy they crossed.

Shepard was, as far as Garrus’ and many others knew, the only vanguard favoring sniper-rifles over submachine-guns and shotguns and she also was a more powerful biotic than most vanguards with a knack for biotic flares, slams and reaves.  
Seeing her wipe an entire room of mercs out in a couple of seconds was quite breathtaking and awe-inspiring but Garrus just could not wrap his head around the fact that the Commander no longer seemed to have any inkling of instinct towards self-preservation. The worst part of it all was that no one, other than himself seemed to think that was a problem! They all just let her charge off without even battering an eye, never vocalizing any complaints or stress the dangers of such behavior. Garrus’ blood was boiling at this point and the subvocal growl had built to a constant low menacing thrumming.

~.o.O.o.~

 

As the last merc went down Garrus and Kasumi quickly followed Shepard. It was just a simple matter of following the usual trail of dead bodies and mayhem the Commander always seemed to leave behind. They caught up with her in time to hear her cornering a merc about the whereabouts of their latest recruitment goal, Thane Krios.

“You’ve got two ways down, express or coach.” she said matter-of-factly. “Your choice.” she continued, following the merc who were steadily backing up due to her close proximity. When he stood flush up against the window Shepard closed in until she was only inches away from his face. The merc tried to be smart and ran his mouth at her, dead certain his companions would come running any second to deal with his problem. Shepard frowned, poked him in the chest with an index finger, told him it was the wrong answer and shoved the poor delusional guy out the window.

“Bye bye…” they heard her snicker as the mercs’ fading screams echoed through the newly broken window. Shepard nonchalantly turned around like she hadn’t just pushed a guy out a 50 story building and greeted her team with a wide grin.

“Took you long enough!” she said snarkily, spinning on her heel to move towards their destination again.  
“Well some of us actually have to work so the likes of you can run off and play.” Kasumi retorted cheerfully attaching a snicker on the end as she bumped the Commanders shoulder playfully.  
“Aww, all work and no play, poor little thief.” Shepard mocked with a slight chuckle.

Before the accident… attack… well, _death_ of Shepard, Garrus was normally at the receiving end of such playful banter. But he just, was not able to do it anymore, not when she seemed hell-bent on getting back to being _dead_.

“Would you to get your heads in the game!” he snapped when they readied themselves for the battle to cross the narrow bridge connecting their office-building with the one they wanted to get to. The bridge held an unspoken promise of wave after wave of mercs and commandos at the least.

“Geez, someone has their fringe in a twist.” Shepard huffed in annoyance and rolled her eyes at him, like he was hampering her game, and it irked him to no end. Before he could retort or even react he saw **that** grin spreading wide on her lips. She glanced at him from the corner of her emerald eyes, eyes that now sparkled with mischief and in a wave of familiar blue, she was gone. There were no curses in any tongue Garrus’ knew that would fit the rage he felt towards Shepard in that moment.

“I am going to **_kill you_**!” he hissed at the blue trail of Shepards biotic charge. Seething in his own anger he perched himself at the highest point he could find and began picking of enemies at a frightening pace. The black widow with the state of the art high velocity barrel-mod and top of the notch scope was a joy to handle, it had been a gift from Shepard and any other day of the week he would have been euphoric.

~.o.O.o.~

 

He had found her standing in the main battery fidgeting when he came back from his meal in the mess one day. She’d looked up, straightened her clothes and announced she had a surprise for him.

”Only the best is good enough for my best friend!” she said in that warm tone of voice as she flashed him a brilliant smile. A strong, warm hand with entirely too many fingers had wrapped itself around his left wrist as she pulled him towards his workbench.  
He had been lost for words as he laid eyes on the beautiful weapon. He didn’t even notice the armor stacked beside his bench as he reverently stroked the black metal for a second before withdrawing his fingers as if it burned him and snapped his slack-jawed head to the tiny woman beside him. She was bouncing up and down, making a lock of her fiery hair dislodge itself from her ponytail and fell over her cheek. Her impossibly green eyes sparkled with childish excitement as a goofy grin was spread across her face while she held her hands clapped together at her chest, awaiting his response.

“You’re kidding?!” was the only thing the very awed Garrus’ had been able to say before she had launched herself at him. Arms in a vice grip around his neck, her face nuzzling his healthy cheek slightly before letting out that childish laugh reserved for her most trusted friends. He had barely hugged her back before she pressed her lips gingerly to his mandible. And just as quick as she had been in his arms she was backing away again. To his own surprise he felt a sting of sadness as she backed out of his personal space.  
He was vaguely aware that he was silently staring at her in shock, dumbfounded and still slack-jawed. Shepard fired off a blinding smile at him again, gesturing towards the weapon again.

“You like it?”  
“Like? You kidding?! Is that a trick question?” he managed to splutter out in his dazed state. He didn’t know what shocked him more, the gift which must have cost a small fortune, her hug and, or…kiss… Or maybe what really stunned him was his own reaction at her display of affection.  
He knew he cared for her. Enough so that her death had made it unbearable to stay anywhere Shepards warnings were being distorted and corrupted to fit the nonsense the Counsel was spouting. Enough to make him a shadow of his own self according to his family. But to react this strongly? His entire being wanted nothing more than to grab this woman by the waist onto the workbench and have his way with her. The pang of disappointment in his gut as she had left his embrace was disconcerting to say the least.  
_“I’m still in chock she’s alive.”_ he rationalized with himself. It must be the cause, right?

She blabbered excitedly about the mods she had bought him and the speed of her speech rivaled that of Mordins as her obsession with guns made itself evident.  
Suddenly she quieted and turned to him, scope in one hand and high velocity barrel-mod in the other. A spark of uncertainty crossed her eyes as they met his and he realized that he had been quiet and hadn’t moved a muscle since she had released him from her embrace. He shook himself mentally and cleared his throat awkwardly.

“I…” he began “I don’t know what to say.” he continued truthfully and rubbed one hand behind his neck, embarrassment clear in both his voice and body-language.  
“Well a ‘thank you’ will go a long way.” she chuckled. “I also got you a new set of armor. You know since your current one is…” Shepard trailed off as a shadow fell over her. She lowered her head and turned away from him.  
“Hey.” Garrus put a hesitant hand on her shoulder “I’m not going anywhere.”  
“Yeah…” was her answer.

A pregnant silence spread around them like a heavy blanket for a minute before she turned back to him, all trace of sadness wiped from her face.  
“I’ll let you get familiar with your new baby.” she blinked at him and started walking out of the main battery.  
“Hey.” he called out as the door whooshed open. “Thanks.” She turned to look at him, smiled that heart-melting smile and proceeded to walk away.


	2. 2

* * *

 

“Shepard?” Nassana says in surprise as they enter her office. “But you’re dead?”

  
“I got better.” Shepard said in distain.

  
Nassana was under the impression they were the assassins, there to kill her for being a horrible sentient being in general and Shepard could not resist yanking her chains for a while.

“Is it credits you want? Tell me your price and we can make this little problem go away!” Nassana spat as she paced agitatedly around in small circles.

“All the credits in the world will not make **this** problem go away.” Shepard snickered and settled her arms across her chest leaning back on one hip as Nassana started a long exhausting rant. The asari stumbles over her words in confusion when she hears Shepard proclaim that she would not stop the assassination even if she could.

“What do you mean? Of course you could!” Nassana spun to face Shepard with a sneer at the same time as a noise made Nassanas guards skittish, then dead in a matter of seconds. Nassana herself followed them into the afterlife shortly.

~.o.O.o.~

 

The assassins’ motions was fluid. Like watching a beautiful dance only it ended in death instead of applauses. He took the stance of a praying man to everyone’s obvious surprise and turned his attention to Shepard only once he had finished.

“I was curious to see how far you’d go to find me?” he said as he walked up to stand in front of her, hands clasped behind his back. “Well, here I am.”  
As Shepard and Thane talked about why they came for him, the upcoming mission, he looked her up and down, rounded her and inspected her in a way that made it really hard for the already agitated turian to clamp down on his subharmonic.

 _“Stop undressing her in your mind already. Damned, drell menace!”_ his thoughts ran away with him before he could stop them, accompanied by the shortest, lowest burst of vibrations in his subvocals. Neither of the humans seemed to hear it but the drell cocked his head to look at Garrus with those black, calculating eyes of his. Garrus met his gaze with his steely blue orbs while lowering his chin slightly, clamping his mandibles hard to his face, his entire body rigid. The turian virtually radiated ‘back off or I’ll rip you’re head off’.

“I’m dying.” said the drell without looking away from Garrus. “Low survival-odds don’t concern me.” he smirked at the turian fully aware that it would be taken as a challenge, before turning back to Shepard telling her that the survival of the colonies was something he was concerned with and he wanted to help. Garrus almost scoffed when the assassin said he was trying to make the universe a brighter place before he died.

 _“You smoothtalking piece of shit!”_ he thought glaring at the floor, desperately trying to get his subharmonics to stop trying to make a scene. Every cell in his body was telling him to go help Thane into the afterlife but he also knew that if he even attempted to do so in broad view of Shepards gaze, she would probably beat him within an inch of his life for disrespecting a teammate.

He had seen her furiously slam both Miranda and Jack simultaneously into opposite walls with her biotics after catching them in a fight so bad Joker had complained he was scared they’d rip out a bulkhead. They had made the mistake of not listening to her and continued their incessant screaming at each other and they had both ended up in the med-bay with concussions as well as cuts and bruises.

Garrus was in no mood to get benched from missions due to his own lack of self-control and he was very thankful when Thane excused himself to finish the business he had on Illium. Promising to report to the Normandy 06.00 the following morning.

“Hmm. Yum.” Kasumi purred the moment the assassin was no longer within earshot. Shepard just laughed, shook her head at the comment and hooked her assault rifle back in its place on her back.

“What? Not even you could turn down that much yummieness?!” the thief exclaimed ruefully.

“Not my type. He’s aaaall yours.” Shepard shot back with a slight chuckle at the thief’s’ obvious disappointment. Garrus had been preoccupied with thinking of ways to dispose of the blasted assassin but couldn’t help his brain taking off in a very different line of direction at Shepard’s disinterest in the drell.

~.o.O.o.~

 

She had never, **ever** , showed any interest in any male since he had known her. Kaidan had made it his mission on the Normandy SR-1, to make her his but had failed miserably, Liara had not been shot down as spectacularly as Kaidan but she’d been turned down all the same.  
Every time the crew had shoreleave and gone barhopping Shepard would have dozens of interested parties who she didn’t even acknowledge, if she even knew they were alive. It didn’t matter if it be male or female or which race. Shepard never bothered.

Once when they visited Flux on the Citadel, there was this really obnoxious guy, human. He just wouldn’t give her a break. She tried everything from ignoring him to flat out yelling at him to go fuck a brick, but still the sucker didn’t give up.  
When Garrus had walked up to her, mostly to stop her from reaving the everliving shite out of the besotted guy, she had turned to him, draped her arms around his neck, winked and announced proudly that once you went turian you never went back to squishy, soft humans.  
The man turned every shade of grey then white as a ghost looking between Garrus and Shepard. Slowly the man took on a more greenish hue before spinning around and bolting out the doors. They had laughed till they had collapsed on the floor and Kaidan had come up to ask if they were ok.

Garrus could not help but wonder at this. What was Shepards type? Why did she never, or at least as far as anyone knew, ever have intimate relations or show interest in anyone? Did she have someone already? Had she lost her love to some horrible twist of fate? This was going to make him loose sleep, he was sure. But what was going to leave him unable to sleep at all was that he realized the reason he was being so protective. He wanted her. Not as a friend or a sister in arms, but as a mate.

_“Spirits help me…”_

~.o.O.o.~

 

“….rus.” Shepards voice was interrupting his thought-pattern and slowly finding its way into his engrossed mind. He blinked and looked at her.

“Oh for the love of everything holy…” she muttered looking at into his blue eyes searching for something before raising her voice barking “GARRUS!!”

“Sorry.” he replied sheepishly looking down at the floor grabbing the back of his neck in an embarrassed gesture. “Did you need me for something?” he continued as he tried to collect the shattered pieces of his ego.

“Yeah, you walking would be nice. Think you can manage? One foot in front of the other and such??” she mocked rolling her eyes at him.

“Oh!” was all he could muster as he felt chagrined and wanted nothing more than to disappear.

Kasumi giggled her signature laugh as the Commander proceeded to make her way towards the elevators who would take them to the landingpad and their awaiting shuttle. As she brushed past Garrus she whispered,

“Smooth loverboy…”

“WHA…!” he started but Kasumi was already gone and he trudged somberly towards the elevator.

 


	3. 3

As soon as the ground team set foot on the Normandy again Garrus took off almost running to the main battery. Both Kasumi and Shepard watched him go, slamming the poor elevator call-console so hard it sound reverbed around the CIC.

“Maybe you should go talk to him?” Kasumi offered timidly. “He’s been edgy for weeks, but I’ve never seen him **this** angry…”

“Yeah I know. Best to let him cool of some first though.” Shepard replied over her shoulder, shrugging as she made her way towards the cockpit.

“Hey Joker! Everything ok up here?” she said without waiting for the pilot to turn his chair.

“Apart from the ship-cancer getting on my case every few seconds?” Joker said in his usual tone of sarcasm. “Yeah, everything’s fine!”

“Set a course for Omega at 07.00 tomorrow. Tell the crew they are free to go on shoreleave as long as they are back and fit for duty by then.” Shepard said before spinning around to go to her cabin. She desperately needed a shower. A hot one, or cold depending on how you looked at it.  
As soon as the doors to the elevator closed she dropped the commander-façade to lean heavily on the back wall. How much longer could she keep this up? This facade, it was harder and harder to keep in place and it was not always the best choice to run ahead of her team to get away from the distraction that was Garrus. Not to mention he was starting to get really pissed off at her for doing so.

_“Fuck…”_ she thought rubbing her hand over her face.

She had always been drawn to him and she considered him her best friend. But ever since her resurrection, she had a hard time not attacking him at sight. Her implants didn’t just make her stronger and faster. It also made her senses heightened, sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch… All of them... Garrus had always smelled nice, secure, a little as what she supposed ‘home’ was supposed to smell like.   
Now? He smelled like pure sex and candy! And it didn’t help that she now could hear his whole register of vibrating subvocals which made her insides tingle at the mere thought.

_“Oh for the love of…”_ she mentally slapped herself as she entered her cabin and started to undress.

The shower was steaming as she stepped under the spray, the warm water almost scalded her but she hummed in comfort. She lathered herself down from top to toe before rinsing methodically. Once done she put her forehead to the wall, clearing her mind and let the water work wonders on her stiff shoulders and back.

~.o.O.o.~

 

Garrus threw his armor off in a heap, yanking a towel, his toiletries and some clean clothes from his trunk making his way to the showers. Pissed, was an understatement at this point. Nothing he did seemed to take the edge off his irritation. And with Shepard acting like she was indestructible, refusing to work as a proper team, that irritation flares more often than not into rage.  
He knew he needed to talk to her, but what would he tell her? That he would nothing more than to pin her to a wall and screw her brains out? Or that he seriously considered maiming her to get her to stop running off where he could not watch her back in a fight?

With a heavy sigh he unclenched his fists to finish his shower. He then dried off and pulled on a pair of pants before making his way back to the main battery. The guns and armor needed to be cleaned and hopefully he could do that meticulously enough that it would take most of the night sparing him trying to sleep but not being able to.

~.o.O.o.~

 

Shepard made her rounds, checking on the crew that hadn’t ventured of ship into the streets of Illium. She finished reading and answering all her messages, reports and had taken the time to work off some stress sparring with Grunt. He was pretty much the only one, except for Garrus, that could take her punishment and who was still up for sparring with her despite that.   
Jacob had put up a good façade for a while, to catch Shepards eye no doubt, but after she accidentally broke his arm with a roundhouse-kick he was trying to block… Even he had given up on the tough-guy-act and admitted sparring with Shepard was unhealthy, bordering on insane.

There was nothing more she could do to delay the inevitable, staying hidden in her cabin was not an option. She was going to have to confront Garrus about his temper and come clean about her predicament. Ok she didn’t plan on telling him how she wanted to mount him every-wich-way due to his smell and vocal vibrations, no way in the blue hell was she doing that! But she had to tell him about her being able to hear and smell…

_“Fuck…. how do you tell someone they smell and sound like sex?!”_ she thought mortified at the mere thought.

She found herself outside the main battery way faster than she would have liked and started pacing in front of the door. More than once she was on the verge of fleeing up to her cabin to hide under the covers in her bed.

_“Coward! Just open the door already!”_ she mentally chastised herself, steeling her senses and slammed her hand on the keypad. The door slid up and Shepard took a few hesitant steps towards what felt like her doom.

~.o.O.o.~

 

Garrus froze as the doors to his quarters slid open and her sent came wafting towards him. He was sitting on his cot polishing his armor in nothing but a pair of turian sweatpants since he really was not expecting any company tonight. Especially Shepard, seeing as she had avoided him like the plague the last couple of weeks. His entire body was tense as a bowstring ready to snap, his irritation came crashing back into his mind and he had to force himself to breathe slow and steady so he wouldn’t give himself away.

Shepard came into view and stopped cold, looking at him sideways. Her red impossibly long hair was a little damp and hanging loose from its usual bun, framing the lightly tan skin of her cheeks. She was barefoot in her black N7 sweatsuit and a grey tanktop, the hoody zipped open.  
She had stopped breathing and her nose scrunched up as if she smelled something unpleasant. He couldn’t help but be provoked by that.

“You need me for something?” he said flatly, refusing to even look at her. Shepards brows furrowed looking perplexed at him, cocking her head as if she was listening for something.

“Why do you do that?” she asked him softly peeking at him through the corner of her eyes. Garrus stared incredulous at her before looking down at the rag in his one hand and armor piece in the other then looking back to her with a raised eyebrow-plate.

“No I mean, why do you clamp down on your subharmonics?” she continued as her eyes searched his features looking for the smallest hint of an answer.

“I don’t, you just can’t hear the full range of them.” he shot back and started polishing again.

“Liar!” she snapped a bit harsher than she would have wanted. “I’m Cerberus-enhanced, remember?”  
Well, at least she’d broken the ice about her enhancements. Maybe Garrus would pick up on the rest without her having to spell it out? A girl could hope right?  
Garrus looked at her like she had just told him she was a unicorn, his mandibles hung slack and he just stared.

“All of them?” he said weakly and looked down to the floor, his mind replaying the little incident with Thane and dreading where this conversation was heading. “I’s that why you’ve been avoiding me?”

“No, not really. Or.. Well it’s part of it…” she said truthfully. Garrus could not believe what he was hearing. What else was she upgraded on? He put away the rag and his armor and hid his face in his hands.

“Look, I’m sorry I’m so overprotective that I can’t keep my subvocals from broadcasting to everyone I perceive as a threat to back the fuck off. But you’re like family! I can’t really help hit.” Garrus half lied as he visibly deflated in front of Shepard.  
She wanted to reach out to him, to tell him it was ok but as she got closer she could smell a faint scent coming of him in waves. It hit her like a freight train and she stopped in her tracks, forcing herself not to back away even though she wanted to run screaming out the door to hide in her cabin. Preferably under the covers.

The first time she’d noticed this smell was when she’d hugged him after presenting him with the new sniper rifle. She had pulled away so quickly he was certain Garrus would notice something amiss. But she’d apparently been lucky, he was so dazed by her gift that he didn’t seem to comprehend anything out of the ordinary.

_“Sex and candy… “_ the thought penetrated her mind as she tried not to breathe more than necessary. She could feel herself getting aroused and contemplating bolting for the door for the second time. It would not matter now however, because she could see him react to her pheromones.

Garrus head snapped up and his pupils dilated as he stared intently at her. He could not believe the scent coming of her. Arousal? Seriously? What the hell?   
He lifted himself of the cot to get closer to her. To appraise her reaction. He breathed in deeply and the scent hit him harder than he thought possible. His brain almost stopped functioning and the distraction made him forget his subvocals who proceeded to thrum out his own arousal. Shepards eyes went wide as her head swung back to face his with a look of utter disbelief.

“You… “ she tried, eyes filled with shock and wariness. But her voice faltered as her brain was overridden with all the pheromones tinging the air with unspoken promise of sweet desire. All she could do was stare at the gorgeous turian in front of her. Damn if he wasn’t perfection!

Shepard licked her lips unconsciously which only served to deepen the rumble in Garrus’ chest. His eyes intently focused on only her. He looked like a predator ready to pounce and she reacted accordingly, by crouching slightly and narrowing her eyes into calculating slits, not backing away from the challenge.

Garrus pinched his eyes shut, shaking his head and trying to regain his composure. Damn this woman was making him come undone with just her smell and posture. He needed to get a grip, to relax.

When he opened his eyes again he was not prepared for the sight that met him. Shepard had lowered her chin and looking at him through her lashes, in a slight crouch. A challenge if he ever knew one. She looked absolutely primal.

 


	4. 4

Kasumi couldn’t sleep. She knew she should have told Shepard ages ago about her knowledge of “the edgy turian”-situation. But she had hoped the thing would solve itself as it was pretty obvious to people with half a brain that Shepard and Garrus had it bad for one another.  
Shepard always charged away and hid in the heat of battle when Garrus’ tagged along on missions. Never as much when he wasn’t and never to the point of it being dangerous. That in itself was pretty telling but Kasumi, being who she was, loved puzzles and this she had to figure out. All of it!

The research she’d done on turians, their anatomy, social-ques and such, had left her with no question about Garrus’ feelings towards Shepard. Turians had not only speed and strength but a very keen sense of smell and incredible hearing. They also communicated a lot through subvocals and body language in a way none of the other sentient species of the galaxy did.  
Garrus protectiveness said a great deal about his feeling. But subtle things like unconscious fluttering of his mandibles at the sight of her, taking extraordinary deep breaths around her and the way his subvocals would rumble deeply for a second when she did something he liked or disliked, before he became aware of them. All those subtle hints was painting a very clear picture for all who knew how to read them.

Kasumi also hacked the life-support system of Shepards armor when Garrus’ followed on a mission and noticed that every time the Commander charged away her heartrate had started to spike and her breath became erratic and heavy in a way that did not translate to only an increase in adrenalin due to fighting.

The final piece of the enigma that was Shepard and Garrus, was that she knew about the Commanders upgrades. Hacking Mirandas equipment and following her around had given Kasumi a great deal of information about Shepard that she was certain not even the Commander knew of.

Shepard had implants to make her immune to dextro-amino acids. According to the medical information Kasumi had plowed through, Shepard was never allergic to dextro-amino acids to begin with **but** with the upgrade the Commander could even eat dextro-food and gain nutritional value. In theory the implant made Shepards body able to process many things that usually was not possible and gain nutritional value, but that was only in theory and not necessarily something to experiment with unless needed. The drawback was increased hunger which Shepard already had due to being a biotic and thus nobody thought twice about her foodportions.  
She had implants that made her muscles work harder. Making her faster, stronger and more agile. She had bone, muscle and skin-weaves making her heal faster, adding to her strength and agility and made her able to take more damage. Cerberus had even put in implants to make her memory capacity better and neural connections work faster.

But the key was the sensory implants. They were designed to regulate the senses, heighten or lessen the experience to give her an edge in combat. Less pain but better precision-touch, better smell but resistant to crippling odors, better nightvision but less sensitivity to light and so on. They were meant to make her a better soldier but in the situation with Garrus they became a predicament.

From all that information it was no long leap to guess the nature of Shepards incessant charging and soloing enemies. She didn’t want to risk Garrus’ picking up on the fact that she had the hots for him. Which was ludicrous because he was trying equally hard to hide the fact that he was in to her.

Kasumi knocked on the Commanders door hoping she didn’t wake her and fully resigned to taking the heat if she was. This needed to stop before it got the team hurt or killed. When no one answered the door, she politely asked EDI to open it lest she do it herself.

“The Commander is currently not in her quarters.” EDI chimed. “Shall I notify her that you are looking for her?”

Kasumi thought for a split-second before asking EDI about Shepards whereabouts.

“She’s currently in the main battery.” the AI responded in her usual deadpan voice.

“Interesting, and can you tell the nature of her being there?” Kasumi purred turning to the elevator.

“The Commander and Officer Vakarian seems to be sparring.” came the immediate reply.

“EDI, could you be a doll and lock down the doors to the main battery.” Kasumi snickered while entering the elevator hitting the button for the crew deck. “We wouldn’t want anyone disturbing them and ending up with nightmares.”

“I am not inclined to proceed with such an order without proper authorization from a commanding officer.” EDI protested matter-of-factly.

“Very well, I’ll do it myself.” Kasumi sighed but had a slight smile on her features giving away how amusing she found this. Finally the idiots had caught on! She was going to have so much fun teasing Shepard about this. Tomorrow…

As she stepped out of the elevator onto the crew deck, she put a sabotage-node on the door to the main battery, capable of continuously sabotaging the lock until either shut down by Kasumi herself, someone hacking it or it ran out of battery. She then started walking to her quarters to ponder interrogation methods.

~.o.O.o.~

 

Garrus looked at Shepard and the obvious challenge she was broadcasting with her posturing together with her constant release of pheromones beckoning him to pursue her. Getting her to submit to him rapidly became all his brain could focus on as they started circling each other. Staring one another down, trying to read the other once movement and intent.

“ **THIS** is why you ran from me?” Garrus sneered. His irritation at the realization making his movements jerky and stiff.

“And if it was?” came Shepards hissing answer. Her eyes blazing with anger and ill-concealed desire. She was furious with him for not picking up on her earlier hints that she was interested, for not trusting her enough to tell her how he felt and for forcing her to run when she could have stayed had she only known. She was going to make him work for it!

_“Infuriating female!”_ his thoughts fumed as realization dawned on him sparking his irritation again. Now that he knew, he felt stupid for not seeing it earlier and he was hell-bent on making her submit.  
He was shaking his head without taking his eyes of her, trying to clear it a bit through the haze of desire that begged him to pin her to anything and make her his. He was trying very hard not to go all cave-turian on her ass but she was doing everything right. Or in this case wrong.

 

Turians generally first showed their interest with body language and subharmonics followed by subtle pheromones by the males directed only towards the female of his choosing. If the female was interested in the male she released pheromones to tell the male she was up for grabs. Body language was key.  
If the female or male wanted a stress-relies they would submit without a challenge, raising their heads slightly to show off the throat-area.

If the female or male wanted more than a casual fling she or he would lower their chin, protecting their throat while keeping eyecontact the other part, crouching slightly in a strike-ready pose and thus ushering a challenge.

This gave the other party a chance to bow out if interests varied between the two.

The challenge between female and male ended two ways.   
Either the female found the male worthy and rewarded him with access to her private parts as she would latch on to his right side neck-ridge (the left side was for bondmates only). The male would immediately follow suit with a bite to the females right side neck-ridge and then they’d tumble into blissful euphoria together.   
Or the female deemed the male unworthy in which case her private parts never unsheathed and she stopped producing pheromones signaling to the male to bug off immediately, lest he wanted an as-whooping.

 

Shepard knew this! She’d saved his ass from clingy asari and human women more times than he could count. Had even been his wingman when he needed a stress-relies, pointing him in the right direction of interested parties as he himself found it difficult. She was an expert in different cultures, languages and species’ body languages. She had to be to be able to function as a Spectre.

“Jane…” he forced out as a warning through clenched teeth. “…are you insane?”

Her reply came instantly, a low growl as she slid to the floor swiping a wide kick out towards Garrus’ legs. He narrowly escaped, reaching for her while he repositioned himself. She flipped herself away by following the movement through with her legs, using the momentum, pulling them upwards and backwards, twisting her body and pushing off with her hands into a flip landing her on her feet a safe distance from his reaching arms.  
Garrus may be stronger and have wider reach but she was human, a member of the most flexible species in the galaxy. She also had training, rigorous training, making her even more flexible. Frighteningly so according to most.

Garrus growled a warning at her again, trying to tell her in the only way he could that he would not be able to restrain himself much longer. His entire being screamed at him to go get what was offered. To make her his by any means possible.

Shepards just continued her posturing while radiating the scent for him to come get her. No more running. If she’d known what she now knew, without a doubt, she would have stopped running ages ago and she was NOT going to let this chance pass because she might get a little roughed up.

“Can’t handle a squishy human?” she purred tauntingly at the frustrated turian in front of her.

The taunt was the last straw that made Garrus through caution to the wind and loose himself to the hunt. He was reaching in, grabbing and throwing punches and she blocked, flipped or danced out of his way. She swiped her long legs at him in wide kicks knowing better than to go in close range and he blocked or rolled out of the way. He was waiting for the right opportunity to strike, building up her confidence so she’d slip up.

He did not have to wait long as Shepard got distracted for a millisecond by a crackling noise at the door.   
Only Kasumi would be sneaky enough to find them out and tactful enough to make them unavailable. Well, until tomorrow when she was predictably going to give them the third degree for sure.

  
Garrus, being familiar with the noise and the talent needed for it, disregarded the obvious ‘Overload’ and mentally thanked the thief for protected their privacy.  
Shepard however, averted her eyes to the door for a split-second and Garrus sprang into action. Covering the distance between him and Shepard in a flash-movement, ramming into her hard and ending it with her pinned between him and the wall. Her hands trapped in his on either side of her head. His face only a hairsbreadth away from hers, sharing her breath and gazing intently into her emerald eyes. Both of them was breathing heavily with hearts pounding and blood rushing in their ears.

“Mine…” he rumbled triumphantly.


	5. 5

Garrus had made her submit, but from here on he was a little lost. A human didn’t function the same way a turian female would. He waited for her to acknowledge his claim. Her scent still screamed at him to take her but he waited tentative and almost painfully aroused, for her approval. Or spirits forbid, dismissal.

Shepard stared at her beautiful turian for what seemed like a long while basking in his perfection while thinking. She knew she couldn’t preform as a turian female would so from here on they had to make it up as they went.

“Jane…” he breaths tentatively. It was her move, she knew, felt him waiting. So she leaned in towards the right side of his face and took in his scent. She trailed the tip of her nose along his neck up to his jaw, felt him tense at the sensation and let slip a groaning purr. Her arms where still pinned to either side of her face so she settled with ghosting a kiss on the part of his right mandible that was healed.

“I approve.” she whispered breathlessly as she let her head fall back, exposing her throat to him while wrapping her legs around his waist seeking support on his hipspurs.

Garrus reaction was instant. His entire body was more or less vibrating with want as he mirrored her gesture of trailing the neckline up to the jaw. He followed the jawline to her ear nipping the sensitive flesh right below it, rewarding him with a breathy moan. His mouth continued nipping and occasionally licking his way back down to her collarbone drawing delicious sound from Jane at every stop.

His hands wandered over her curves seeking her pleasurespots and her released hands and arms found their way around his neck, one hand playing with the soft skin at the base of his fringe and the other one exploring his upper body. Her fingers found their way into every nook and cranny between his plates, stroking his softer skin in a way that made his knees threaten to buckle under him.   
His breaths became erratic under her touch and his exploring stopped as he had to brace himself with one hand on the wall not to keel over.

Jane didn’t stop her relentless onslaught of his senses and added one more sensation as she softly grazed his mouthplates with her lips. Tracing them softly with the very tip of her tongue, feeling his shudder she smiled and kissed him again. Her kisses and licking beckoned him to kiss back, his plates hard against her soft pliable lips. He let her have entrance and their kiss deepened. Her silky tongue warring with his rough one until they had to part gasping for breath.

As they parted for air, Garrus gently tugged at her clothes. She nodded. There were entirely too much fabric keeping them apart. They let go of each other as they pulled of the layers that so cruelly separated them and when they once again intertwined in embrace the feeling of his varied course and leathery skin against her satin skin send fires through them both. The heat pooled in the pit of their stomachs as they enjoyed the closeness, trailing patterns on each others skin, kissing furiously.

Garrus broke the kiss to lift his soon to be mate and pin her against the nearest object, happening to be the powered down center console of the battery. The cot was too far away and he needed her now. Her legs automatically found their way around his waist, resting gently over his hipspurs as he set her bottom down on the console. She could feel his emerged shaft hot and slick, begging entrance to her core. She angled her hips and ground against him. Urging him to slip in to her hotness. They were both drawing fast, ragged breaths, muscles vibrating with pent-up need for release and anticipation.

Janes arms went up around Garrus neck holding on for dear life as he positioned himself. In a haze she brought her teeth into his right side neckridge, biting down hard enough to draw blood. The reaction from Garrus was instant and primal as he found her shoulders soft skin biting down with a earthshattering growl while simultaneously, in one fluid motion slammed home.

The pain from his marking overshadowed by the pleasure bolting through her entire body as his ridges found all the right spots inside her. Her eyes flew wide open as her back arched further than Garrus thought possible, a loud gasping moan escaped her parted lips.

Garrus saw stars dancing in front of his eyes as he sheathed himself to the hilt in her burning spasming core. He could hardly breathe and had to brace himself on the console, not to fall over. She was so hot and tighter than he ever could have imagined. The taste of her blood mixing with the scent of their blood and her arousal was overwhelming.

His head was still spinning when he felt Janes lips crash onto his mouthplates, forcing entrance while her hips started coaxing him to move. With her thighs massaging his sensitive waist and her inner walls irregularly convulsing and tightening even harder around him he was beginning to wonder if he would last even two thrusts.

“Garrus… please….” she whimpered breathlessly against his mouth. His rumbling growl of need reverbed in the main battery as he withdrew his shaft carefully only bury himself hard and deep a mere second later. Jane all but wailed in pleasure, throwing her head back as her eyes glazed over. Her body shaking from the onslaught. Garrus took advantage of her exposed throat, nipping and licking as he pulled out painfully slow again, slamming hard back in.

Their pace picked up, each thrust of his hips met with a flick of hers. Groaning and growling in dazed, red hot euphoria until the pooling of heat in the pit of their bellies overflowed. Sending them plummeting over the edge, spasming and panting, holding on to each other desperately, as life rafts in a storm.

Garrus was still sheathed in her when her heart and lungs calmed their hammering against her ribcage enough so that she could look at him. He was still dazed, shaking. Pride, happiness and warmth radiated from her features as she smiled at him, taking his head in her hands and putting their foreheads together.

“Amatus… Meus animae, a’condonia talus.” _(Beloved… My spirit/life, I give to you.)_ Jane sayd quietly, her eyes closed, her hand resting on his cheeks stroking his mandibles with her thumbs, gently. Garrus’ eyes snaps open to look at her. She meets his gaze with steady warmth and a smile. The pride he feels is indescribable. He kisses her gently, cupping her cheek with one hand.

“Adamare elii, meus amatra, meus animae.” _(I love you, my beloved, my spirit/life.)_ he says nuzzling her neck, kissing and nipping his way until he lays claim to her mouth once again.


End file.
